Chapter 71
Issue 71, published in Volume 8, is the 71st chapter of the manga. The tagline for this chapter reads:'' ''A professional's trump card. Page Titles * Random Cards Of Love * A Theme Of Your Choice * Reporting What You See * Card-Picking Game * A Familiar Feeling * If You Read Them Altogether * The Three Randomly Selected Cards * The Third Card * 3 Slot Reach! * Oh God! * Every Word Is A Word Of Despair Right Now * Unconsciously Summary During a meeting at Monthly Girls' Romance, Ken tells Nozaki to write a one-shot featuring a theme of his choice for the next issue. This stumps Nozaki, having no particular experience with themes. Ken suggests choosing themes using random cards, seeing as one of the manga artists he supervises uses this technique. It involves creating three boxes, titled 'type of love', 'main theme' and 'additional components'. Themes are placed in the boxes and randomly selected. Inspired, Nozaki asks Ken whether he would have to write about a frog's egg falling in love with mold if he were to pick out 'frog's egg', 'unrequited love' and 'mold'. Ken asks him why he would choose such difficult cards in the first place. Back at his apartment, Nozaki asks Hori to help him write themed cards for the boxes. Hori writes 'fighting spirit in sports', however, Nozaki rejects this since he thinks it will be a pain to draw. When Hori writes 'medieval aristocrat', this is also rejected because ornaments are a pain to draw. Standing over the boxes with agitation, Nozaki looks over each of the cards before placing them a box ('Animals are also a pain to draw...'). Hori tells him that his inspections are too strict. Afterwards, Nozaki looks towards Wakamatsu for help. Wakamatsu is flustered at first, but Nozaki tells him to 'just write what you see'. Therefore, Wakamatsu sets off to find things which will help him think of ideas. He comes back with the cards 'kitchen knife', 'chopping board', 'barley tea' and 'eggs'. Nozaki asks him if he went to the kitchen. The next set of cards Wakamatsu returns with read 'figurines', 'big boobs' and 'bikini'. Nozaki concludes that he must have went to the back room, where Mikoshiba keeps his collection of bishoujo figures. Nozaki goes to visit Miyako at her apartment. She offers to write some cards for the themed boxes. To begin with, Miyako writes regular yet interesting themes such as 'teacher', 'secret between two people' and 'misogyny'. However, she proceeds to think of increasingly outlandish ideas such as 'wasabi', 'aojiru' and 'embarrassing story from the past'. When Nozaki inspects the cards afterwards, he finds 'reverse', 'miss one turn' etc. As it turns out, Miyako had fooled herself into thinking she was making a card game halfway through. Mikoshiba is asked to use one of his otome games as reference in order to write some cards. Nozaki seems to think that they contain orthodox events, however, Mikoshiba opposes this idea. His cards end up reading 'confined and engaged', 'won't wake up from sleep' and 'accidental death'. Disturbed by these dark themes, Nozaki suggests referencing 'Daily Life Paradise' (from the same game series as 'Secret Days ♡', which featured Tomoda). However this game turns out to be equally chaotic, with Mikoshiba's cards now stating events such as 'main character is the reincarnation of Tokugawa Ieyasu' and 'friend was actually God'. Sakura approaches Nozaki, having also written some cards. He accepts them without hesitation. As it turns out, Sakura had carefully themed the cards to match her own relationship with Nozaki. Though they may seem random at first glance - (height difference, assistant, his house, the class next door) - she hopes that he will pick up on the implications. However, Nozaki's long-standing trust in Sakura ends up being her downfall. He places the cards inside a box without bothering to inspect them. Enthusiastically, Nozaki tells Sakura to start drawing the cards. The first one drawn reads 'Romance between a female pig and a human'. Nozaki initially disapproves, but Sakura thinks that a heroine who got turned into a pig is still acceptable. The second card reads 'The two's secret'. Nozaki and Sakura relax, thinking that the plot will come along fine. Yet when the third card is drawn, it reads 'The meat for barbecue'. Nozaki and Sakura exclaim that the heroine got eaten. Distraught, Nozaki asks Sakura to start over. The first two cards she draws read 'Romance with a stranger' and 'The red string of fate'. Just as they were becoming relieved, however, the third card drawn reads 'Scissors' (contributed by Wakamatsu while writing down things he can see). This implies that the string got cut. Nozaki starts over once more and pulls out 'An unfortunate love' and 'Reincarnation'. Sakura comes up with a scenario where a couple who was separated in their previous lives come together in the present day. Yet the third card drawn reads 'Double suicide end' (contributed by Mikoshiba while referencing his chaotic otome games). Nozaki and Sakura exclaim - "They couldn't make it in this life either!!!" Nozaki frantically pulls out two new cards: 'Large height difference' and 'Love between classmates'. These had been written by Sakura in order to get Nozaki to realize her feelings. Nozaki states that it is not a bad idea, despite being commonly used. He tells Sakura to draw the third card. She turns red, considering the fact that this could be a turn of events in her favor. However, the card she draws reads 'Tanuki'. When Nozaki turns around to ask her what the card says, Sakura hurriedly puts it back in the box and pretends that she is only drawing one now. Willing her heart to be 'pure', she reaches into the box with utmost concentration. Sakura asks herself what would happen if 'a little spice' was added into a story about a boy and a girl with a large height difference. The new card she pulls out reads 'Tanuki x13'. They multiplied. Sakura decides to dump the entire contents of the box on the floor, intending to pick the ones which seem reasonable. Nozaki agrees. They end up with three cards reading 'A past love', 'Weak constitution' and 'A popular classmate'. Sakura thinks of a scenario where the heroine is the only person who knows about a popular boy having been bed-ridden as a child. The next three cards drawn read 'Unrequited love'. 'Kitchen' and 'Doll'. Sakura's scenario is that every time the heroine got heartbroken, she would cook, and a doll in the kitchen who always watches over her is a human who got transformed. Mikoshiba interrupts depressingly. He insists that 'the girl, consumed by her unrequited love, tied up the man and went on living while keeping him bound in the kitchen just like a doll.' Nozaki offers Miyako the three boxes so that she can try using them. While drawing the cards, she comes across 'Tall guy' and 'Large height difference'. It is obvious to Miyako that Sakura wrote them. At school, Kashima and Seo come across Nozaki drinking milk in the corridor. They watch him with disdain. Seo asks him whether he 'really plans to keep growing'. Characters in Order of Appearance Category:Manga Category:Chapters